Should I Weigh My Food Raw or Cooked?

It depends on what works best for you. Fitia provides options for both raw and cooked weights. Just make sure to:

• Weigh your food the way you usually do (before or after cooking),
• Select the matching option using the weight type selector next to the serving field.

Why Does It Matter If I Weigh Food Raw or Cooked?

When food is cooked, its weight changes because it either loses or absorbs water, but its calories and macronutrients stay the same.

For example, if you cook 3.5 oz (100 g) of raw chicken breast, it might shrink by about 25% due to water loss, ending up at around 2.6 oz (75 g). It still has about 23 g of protein, but the weight is lower because of evaporation.

So, if you compare 3.5 oz raw to 3.5 oz cooked, the cooked portion will seem more calorie-dense — because those 3.5 oz cooked came from a larger raw portion (around 4.7 oz or 133 g).

On the other hand, foods like rice, pasta, or beans absorb water when cooked. That means 3.5 oz of cooked rice will contain fewer calories than 3.5 oz of raw rice, because the cooked version has expanded and become less concentrated.